The HHS is getting involved in the cyberhack that is causing major headaches for the health industry
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- This hack is causing major financial problems for the industry. Senior white house officials are calling on healthcare providers to get essential funds back to the health sector. And that is not the only concern for federal investigators right now, Wednesday they announced they're taking action. The department of health and human services is going to put change healthcare on the operating table. State Rep. John Forbes/Iowa; Pharmacist says "the system is fragile to fraud and computer hacking and that's what happened in this case." Last month change healthcare was hit with what the American hospital association calls quote: "the most significant and consequential cyberattack on the u.s. Health care system in American history." John Nicholson/Owner, Mahaska Drug says "it shows how vulnerable our whole system is and how dependent we are on the internet anymore."
The insurance billing firm is involved in roughly one-third of U.S. patient records and the HHS will investigate into whether change healthcare properly protected their data in compliance with the health insurance portability and accountability act State Rep. John Forbes/Iowa; Pharmacist says "If you're looking at a co-pay discount card, you're probably not going to be able to use that at this point in time until the system is fixed."
The hack has disrupted medical payments from insurance companies to health providers over the past few weeks....and that's leaving some clinics strapped for cash. State Rep. John Forbes/Iowa; Pharmacist says “It’s very disheartening because we want to deliver the medications that we serve.” A spokesperson for change healthcare and its parent company United Health Group says it will cooperate with the HHS investigation. Officials say the criminal group "blackcat" is responsible for the hack. The justice department has previously said the organization has been involved in other ransomware attacks worldwide.
